PVRs: Beer/Drug Ads Good, Normal Ads Bad

[Steve Mehs]

According to CNW Marketing Research, personal video recorder (PVR) users are skipping commercials 72.3 percent of the time, but peculiarly find the time to watch a beer or drug commercial.

The research found that users of PVRs will skip over a beer commercial 32.7 percent of the time. Drug commercials are the only other category out of 14 measured in the study to keep the attention of more than 50 percent of PVR owners.

"From the research we found that beer ads had high entertainment value," said Art Spinella, vice president and general manager for CNW. "Drug ads were something else. Think of it as the hypochondriac in most of us who are looking for a magic pill to resolve a medical problem or cure some real or imagined illness."

The skip rate, CNW found, is indeed high. The 72.3 percent figure for PVR owners rejecting commercials well outdistanced that for viewers fast-forwarding through commercials on videotape (15.6 percent of the time) and those who "ignore" commercials on live TV (44.6 percent of the time). The research characterizes "ignoring" live TV as getting a snack, starting a conversation or taking a bathroom break.

From SkyRetailer (http://www.skyretailer.com) (Used with Permission)

[dlsnyder]

Wouldn't ignoring the commercials be as much of a violation of the "social contract" as skipping them on your PVR? How long before the major studios and networks start ranting about taking bathroom breaks during the commercials? :D

[jrjcd]

well, since people have been taking bathroom breaks since the advent of TV, you 'd THINK they would have complained about it before now....lol

[Scott Greczkowski]

I'll drink to that :lol:

:goodjob:

[Randy_B]

Proves that people watch anything that is interesting or entertaining. If it is crap they will skip it. If the industry only produces ads worth watching during the super bowl, then that is all the viewers will watch. I lived in Europe for several years and actually enjoyed a great many of the commercials on TV there (same in Japan). It is here in the states that ads are cheap and crappy and have not attraction for me.

[RichW]

I think the biggest problem with ads is the repeat rate. Many times I'll see an ad and then it will repeat about 60 seconds later during the same commercial break. Even the interesting ones lose their appeal when repeated so soon.

[DarrellP]

Skipping a beer commercial is directly proportional to the number of bikinis in the commercial. The more bikinis the more we watch, and don't they know it!